Tribal Council on “Survivor” Wednesday got so complicated, you almost expected Karl Rove to barge in and contest vote totals.
What had once seemed so easy for remaining castaways to accept – get rid of the returning players first – was all thrown out when Jonathan Penner won his first immunity challenge in all the seasons he played “Survivor.”
That achievment, the result of speedily completing a puzzle, the second one of the episode, meant that Penner threw his trademark hat into the air. A sort of dead man walking, whose hidden immunity idol was flushed out last week, the poor guy had nobody to celebrate with.
Earlier, he had been part of another winning team for reward challenge, and he spent part of the reward time, floating down the river on a boat while eating BBQ, trying to advance his position.
The unexpected power broker in the game is Lisa Welchel, the former star on “The Facts of Life” who was kind of a loner for most of the first half of the game, living miserably and not making friends. Suddenly she’s craftily plotting and making alliances to assure her advancement in the game.
On Wednesday, she called an audible during Tribal Council – for Plan B – after a surprising turn of events that had first Malcolm and then Abi pulling out their hidden immunity idols even before the vote was taken. Well that wasn’t necessary. But it was fun to watch.
And plan B meant ousting Jeff Kent, the former baseball ace who had been hiding his identity even as he has been breaking alliances. His bliindside was a beautiful thing to watch, as he did a double take of shock every time his name was read on a ballot.
And when he left, he finished the job of being a jerk.
“You know what pisses me off is that I think I’ve made about $60 million playing baseball and I want this frickin’ million dollars and this game,” he says in the end credits, when the eliminated people get to have their say, if it’s 10 seconds or less. At this point he decided to put in some right wing political commentary.
“And it’s not even a million bucks! It’s $600,000 by the time Obama takes it!” he declares.
But at least he’s aware of the situation he’s in: “I’m a Game 7 World Series loser. You know, I’ve played in the biggest games in the world and the worst games in the world, but this just sucks!”
Wait till he finds out who won the election Tuesday.